MPM’s Aaron Tavena tracked down
Marvel Studios president and CEO, Avi Arad, for
the extreme close-up on X-Men 3: the last
stand:

Moving Pictures Magazine:
In recent interviews, you’ve said that this
X-Men will be the most controversial
of the series. How do you think that will play
with fans of the comic and the movie?

Avi Arad: I think the fans will
go crazy for it. One of the main issues in this
movie is the “cure.” This movie is
quite philosophical: What is a Mutant? What does
it mean to be different? Movie one had the pretty
jarring welcoming in the concentration camp; it
was the easiest way to explain who we are, what
we are, and what it all means. [The Last Stand]
takes it further, takes it to, “Well, do
you want to be a mutant?” Let’s say
we can find something that eliminates that —
you take a pill and you are so-called “normal.”

What should Rogue do? As a member
of the audience, what do you want her to do? Do
you want her to be normal again, be able to have
a normal life, be touched, and have everything
she wants and deserves? Or, on the other side,
do you say, “That’s who you are and
it gives you something unique and special”?
The difference between someone like Professor
X and the X-Men is, for the first time,
going to create a debate within the team.

The way to fight discrimination
is not to change your skin [but to] find a way
to co-exist, and co-existence always came out
of struggle. Throughout history you had two
kinds of leaders fighting this struggle: those
who became militant and those who believed [in]
long-term tolerance.

X-Men 3 goes into the issue of “right
to life.” Unfortunately, [these decisions]
end up being controlled by governments, even
in a democracy. That’s what we so love
about X-Men. It’s infused with
real issues and uses these great metaphors.
We have this great campaign: “Take a Stand.”
That’s what this movie’s about:

MPM:
You mention co-exist, when really the “cure”
becomes an issue of conformity. Some of the
characters may rather conform and live an easier
life?

AA: They may. Look throughout
history. Let’s say Jews of the world chose,
in Roman times, just to convert, then with the
Greeks, then in 1492 with the [Spanish] Inquisition
(if they’d been given a choice). There
isn’t much “Let’s do it so
we don’t have to deal with this any more.”
Human nature doesn’t want to do it. In
the Second World War, this little corporal,
Mr. Hitler, decided that even if you are no
longer [Jewish], look into your past, and if
two or three generations ago there was a Jew,
you still go to the gas chamber. The point is,
you are who you are. You can convert, you can
turn, you can change, [but] someone is going
to refer to who you were versus who you are
today.

It’s interesting this
year to look at the Academy Awards and see Transamerica
and Brokeback Mountain. It’s
the debate: You are who you are. You can change
that, and no one should legislate against it.